1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a Context Aware Service provision method and apparatus. More particularly, the present invention relates to a context aware service provision method and apparatus for recognizing user context and executing an action corresponding to the user context according to a rule defined by the user and for interactively feeding back the execution result to the user.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the advance of digital technologies, various types of user devices capable of communicating and processing data (e.g., a cellular communication terminal, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), an electronic organizer, a smartphone, and a tablet Personal Computer (PC)) are emerging. Recently, user devices are evolving into multifunctional devices integrating various functions in line with the mobile convergence tendency. For example, a recent user device integrates various functions including a voice and video telephony function, a messaging function including Short Message Service/Multimedia Message Service (SMS/MMS) and email, a navigation function, a picture capturing function, a broadcast playback function, a multimedia (e.g., video and audio) playback function, an Internet access function, a messenger function, a Social Networking Service (SMS) function, and the like.
Meanwhile, there is a growing interest in Context Aware Service (CAS) using various life-log technologies that are developed to record the daily life of an individual in the form of digital information. The CAS is characterized in that determination as to whether to provide the service and determination as to service content to be provided are made according to the change of the context defined by a service object. The term ‘Context’ means the information for use in determining the service behavior defined by the service object, the information including service provision timing, whether to provide service, target to serve, service provision location, and the like. Such technologies are capable of recording various types of information characterizing the behavior of an individual and providing the CAS based on the recorded information.
However, the CAS method according to the related art is implemented under the assumption of burdensome installation of various sensor devices based on a domain for collecting information on the individual. The CAS system according to the related art consists of user devices for collecting data by means of sensors and a server for analyzing the data acquired from the user devices to build a context and executing the service based on the context. For example, because the user device has to be equipped with various sensors and must interoperate with the server to provide the user context-based service, the high system implementation cost and design complexity are obstacles for implementing the CAS system according to the related art.
The CAS system according to the related art has a drawback associated with the difficulty in providing the context-based service efficiently due to the limit to the information collected via the user device and lack of effective learning process. For example, the CAS system according to the related art can provide the user with the context-based service only with the rule defined by the device manufacturer so as not to satisfy the requirements of all users. The CAS system according to the related art has a drawback of low user accessibility because the user has to execute an extra program and/or carry out complex manipulation to use the context-based service. Furthermore, the CAS system according to the related art is limited to a single context aware scenario so as to provide no flexibility in setting conditions by taking notice of various situations.
Therefore, a need exists for a CAS method and apparatus that is capable of supporting CAS with one or more rules defined by the user.
The above information is presented as background information only to assist with an understanding of the present disclosure. No determination has been made, and no assertion is made, as to whether any of the above might be applicable as prior art with regard to the present invention.